PRESSURE is building on Blacktown Council to produce a report into the operations of its Animal Holding Facility that it commissioned about 12 months ago.
The report was to investigate changes to the pound’s tendering process and the mandatory desexing of cats and dogs.

Volunteers at the pound and animal welfare advocates have said the tendering process is inefficient and contributes to the number of animals destroyed there each year.

They also believe mandatory desexing of animals would reduce the number of animals killed.

A council spokeswoman said in July last year that the report was expected to be tabled by the end of that month.

At the Community Services Committee meeting last week, councillors called for the report to be produced at the next Policy Committee meeting on May 25.

“I think it is ridiculous,” Cr Nick Tyrrell said, “that it can take 12 months to get a report back to the council about the desexing of companion animals.”

Cr Tyrrell, Cr Russ Dickens and the mayor Allan Pendleton told the committee meeting they all regularly received complaints about the way the pound was run.

Cr Pendleton, who chairs the council’s Urban Animals Advisory Committee, said the report was more likely to be ready for the June 15 Policy Committee than the May 25 meeting.

Cr Allan Green has also written to the council’s general manager Ron Moore after receiving complaints from the community.

“The tender system is bad,” Cr Green said. “It is inefficient, and profit not welfare driven.”

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2 responses to “Pound under scrutiny”

The Mayor has been sitting on this issue for so long…..mandatory desexing & abolishing the tender system is in the best interest of the animals at the pound….understaffed, hardly any volunteers this pound is run on a shoe string budget…..council does not want to put anymore money into the pound by having animals desexed by local vets & the tender system wiped out so families can take an animal on the day they see them instead of waiting to see if their bid was successful …..but they can build a chinese garden with the $3 million that was given to them by the federal government……what about the community Mr Pendleton & the animals are apart of this community of Blacktown…..

Cr Pendleton,
With all due respect, please open your eyes and see that public opinion is shifting. Pushing dates back is not going to buy time, if anything it will bring forward the inevitable demise of the tender system for impounded animals. Australia, as a nation, has become aware of what is happening at Blacktown Pound and, whilst we are fighting our own battle with the LDH in Melbourne, Victorians are taking up banners for change throughout Australia, and BP is high on the list. Please consider!